Decentralization
Give these people the chance and they will seize whatever remains of American democracy, of which I was reminded when the closet reactionary Brookings Institution came up with a proposal for my state of Maine that emphasized the consolidation of everything from towns to schools. Did they know so little about the place that they didn’t understand that Maine’s historic localism has been one of its major virtues and survival techniques?
Guy Montag:
Vermont Commons puts out a monthly newspaper on decentralization/seccession at vtcommons.org
24 January 2011, 12:02 pmm.c.:
15 years ago, during a casual conversation with the two roommates I shared a house in college with(they were both grad students, one in economics, the other getting an mba; more centrist & establishement in their politics than I but not dumb or completely uninformed) I said I wanted to eliminate the US Commerce Dept. I said something like, “I have some idea what the Treasury Dept. does & what the State Dept. does, but no idea what Commerce does, except more jobs to fill up the Plum Book.”(The Plum Book is the ~3,000 high-mid level federal jobs that each new president hands out like goodies, the Ambassadorships being some of the best.) I also wanted to eliminate the US Education Dept. and give the power back to the State Education Departments. One of the roommates thought I was George Wallace or something and asked me how the states would fund their schools. “Just have the Treasury Dept. give Block Grants to each state based on population. If they don’t follow Civil Rights laws have either the state or federal justice departments investigate them.” Little did I know then but in Canada, each Province is in charge its public school system and Canda has some of the best public schools worldwide as far as achievement & graduation rates. I think Canada has a very small national/federal Education Dept. Perhaps FS Readers familiar with Canada’s school systems could clarify this.
24 January 2011, 8:51 pmm.c.:
I like Cananda for comparative purposes because it is probably the most like the U.S. culturally/socially. Canada has a high gun ownership rate like the U.S., New Zealand & Switzerland(more population than the latter two though), but relatively few gun deaths. Other similarities don’t come to mind at this moment.
25 January 2011, 12:41 pmMichael Anderson:
speaking of the managerial class….
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/an-education-in-the-ways-of-the-workplace/?ref=opinion&nl=opinion&emc=tya1
Training Youths in the Ways of the Workplace
“Year Up assists disadvantaged, mostly minority youths, whose only academic requirement is a high school degree or equivalency degree. It offers a six-month training program followed by a six-month internship in a large corporation like State Street, Fidelity Investments, JP Morgan Chase, Partners Healthcare, or AOL. Since its founding in Boston in 2000 with a class of 22 students, Year Up has expanded to eight cities and served 4,000 young adults. About 70 percent of its students complete the program and the organization reports that, within four months, 84 percent of graduates are either enrolled full time in college or have secured a job. The average starting wage is $15 per hour — roughly $30,000 per year.”
…and 30 grand a year in the city will get you a Bob Cratchit-like existence.
25 January 2011, 2:47 pmCurt:
Hurray for Govenor Ventura! He comes through where it counts.
26 January 2011, 10:17 amCurt:
I just read about this new “Warren” Commission Report.
The report says that the banking meltdown was caused by the collective failure of the banking industry, the regulators, and the politicians, and it was avoidable. I think it forgot to mention the press. What I find funny is that someone wants me to believe that there was a spontaneous, simultaneous meltdown, of three major institutions in US society employing tens of thousands of people and that there was no engineering or oversight behind it.
Yes I get it now. Because preventing a banking meltdown was everyones job it was no ones job.
By the way I hope that DeAnander has not been arrested.
27 January 2011, 2:32 pmHenry:
Interesting discussion going on here re Sen. Pat Toomey
http://moslereconomics.com/2011/01/28/senator-pat-toomey-pay-china-first-act/comment-page-1/#comment-42262
29 January 2011, 5:40 pmjack:
Sorry a bit off topic, buy Stan, are you going to weigh in on the situation in Egypt?
30 January 2011, 2:06 amMichael Anderson:
Guess it takes one to know one, eh? I was surprised Bloomberg ran this, until I caught the tone…HMMMMM…
Madoff Says Entire U.S. Government a `Ponzi Scheme’
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/67122488/
24 March 2011, 1:36 pm